George Lake

How big is George Lake?

How deep is George Lake?

What kind of fish can you catch in George Lake?

What are the closest cities to George Lake?

Are there boat launches on George Lake?

Are there places to eat and drink near George Lake?

George is an 84-acre lake located within the city limits of Fairmont in Martin County. The lake has a maximum depth of 11 feet and is a class 40 lake. George Lake is just one of the five lakes in Fairmont that make up what is known as the "Fairmont Chain of Lakes". George is managed primarily for walleye while yellow perch, largemouth bass, crappie, and bluegill are managed secondarily. Low dissolved oxygen readings were recorded on George Lake during the winter of 2008-09. Oxygen levels dropped from 9.1 ppm in early January to 0.4 ppm in early February. George is connected to Sisseton Lake and fish can migrate into George so determining the extent of any winterkill is almost impossible.

Based on the 2009 fish survey on George Lake, walleye numbers are typical of what we would see in lakes similar to Budd in water chemistry, depth, and size. Lengths of walleye caught in our gill nets in 2009 ranged from 10.4 to 22.5 inches and averaged 13.3 inches. The majority of walleye sampled in our gill nets were one year old. There is a good number of walleye in the 10 - 12 inch range coming up in the fishery. These fish were more than likely the result of a walleye fingerling stocking in 2008. The Fairmont Chain of lakes, including George, are on the list to get additional walleye fingerlings in the fall of 2010.

Despite the possible winterkill on George, the bluegill population is doing fairly well. Lengths of bluegill caught in trap nets in 2009 ranged from 4.1 to 9.2 inches and averaged 7.9 inches. Since bluegill are susceptible to low oxygen, it is likely that many of these fish migrated into George after oxygen levels recovered in the spring

Crappie numbers are also typical of lakes similar to George. Both black and white crappie are available to anglers in George Lake as well as the entire "Chain" of lakes. Black crappie have 7-8 dorsal spines with dark splotches against a white background on their body. White crappie have 5-6 dorsal spines and black splotches that form vertical lines on their bodies. Lengths of black crappie caught in trap nets ranged from 5.8 to 10.3 inches and averaged 9.0 inches. Lengths of white crappie caught in trap nets ranged from 7.0 to 11.3 inches and averaged 9.4 inches.

Results from the 2009 fish survey indicated George Lake has good numbers of yellow perch available to anglers. Lengths of yellow perch caught in our gill nets ranged from 6.2 to 9.8 inches and averaged 7.1 inches.

The Fairmont Chain of lakes was stocked once with channel catfish since the reclamation in 1967 when 31 adult catfish were stocked in Hall Lake in 1992. We first started seeing channel catfish in fish surveys on George Lake in 1993 when one fish with a weight of 3.2 lbs was sampled in our nets. This fish may have been one of the adults stocked in Hall in 1992. The channel catfish gill net catch rate increased from 1.0 fish/net in 2001 to 7.5 fish/net in 2009. Lengths of channel catfish caught in gill nets in 2009 ranged from 14.0 to 22.6 inches and averaged 16.5 inches.

Other fish caught in our nets during the assessment in 2009 included black bullhead, yellow bullhead, common carp, northern pike, golden shiner, white sucker and 1 red pacu (released from an aquarium).

To maintain a healthy fishery in George Lake, we need to promote Best Management Practices (BMP's) within the watershed to help reduce nutrients entering the lake. High nutrients and sediments in a lake can cause algae blooms and reduce water clarity.

What is the average air temp for George Lake?